David’s Bridal

Keep your pants on while trying their dresses! I went to David’s a total of 5 times for my wedding. My four bridesmaids got their dresses here. This review details my experience from beginning to end so Unilocalers can get the full picture, so I apologize for the length.
DO make an appointment. They get quite busy during the weekends.
They DON’T require you to remove your shoes. This is flag number one.
It’s easy to see their wedding dresses are lower quality hence the lower prices. The styles are out of date and the organization system is a mess. The dressing area gets really camped with all the bridal parties crammed into a small, narrow area. There are no big mirrors and platforms to spread and view the dresses. Their wedding dresses as icky, yellow and grey from being overworn. I didn’t dare take off my pants while trying them as they looked way too dirty! My consultant was helpful but I left David’s after trying 3 dresses. I ended up saying yes to the dress at Durand.
I returned a second time for bridesmaids dresses. What’s nice about David’s is you can browse their catalogue online beforehand. They have extensive color palettes and styles, and a dress rarely cost more than $ 200. Our consultant, Madison, was fantastic. She deserves gold stars for her patience and multitasking ability while she helped my three bridesmaids and other bridal parties. We were given two dressing rooms even though others were empty and eventually decided on a style.
The third time was to choose a different dress for my Maid of Honor. Madison was my consultant again and was just as helpful as before. I was sad to learn she was quitting to go on a personal trip to Australia.
My fourth trip was with my fourth bridesmaid who couldn’t attend previous fittings. We weren’t able to book an appointment and went as walk-​ins. David’s gave us a dressing room anyway but not a consultant. We were left to our own devices, which was fine since we already knew what style we needed. I purchased 4 dresses on this day and the process was quick and easy. I was told they would arrive in April.
I was surprised to receive a call in February that the dresses were available and needed to be picked up within 7 days or else they’d be shipped to my house. I was happy they arrived 2 months early but was irked when they wouldn’t book an appointment for final fittings. When we picked up the dresses (for my fifth and final visit), they asked me to sign a form to confirm the pick up. I refused to sign anything until we tried on the dresses. My four bridesmaids and mother, who wanted to try some cocktail dresses, were given one dressing room to share. Thankfully the dresses were OK, but we were ignored by staff.
Thus is the end of my journey with David’s Bridal. These are the few pointers I learned:
— Make an appointment!
— David’s is great for tight budgets
— David’s is great for bridesmaids dresses
— Go elsewhere for your wedding dress
— Don’t expect great service. They are way too busy and understaffed
— Alterations start at $ 40
— No refunds. Exchange policy is 7 days within pick up (this gets iffy if they ship to your house)
— Finally, keep your pants on!!!

Ok, where to start…
My brother is getting married next year and I am in the bridal party. The bride lives in Toronto and purchased her wedding dress from David’s. She also found a bridesmaid dress she liked there, but the color she chose is a custom order from their warehouse in Florida. So I went into the store to order the dress. The girl I dealt with was nice enough, but I felt pressure to make a decision quickly so she could move on to her next client. I tried the dress on and found the top part to be very roomy. As a slightly flat chested woman, I thought I should order a size 4. She insisted that the size 6 was perfect and that the sample dress was just stretched out. I trusted her (how naïve of me!) and we finished the ordering process. Since the bride bought her dress at David’s, the girl wanted to put the dress under her account. So basically when the dress arrived, they would call the bride. I asked if they could just call me instead as the bride does not live in Calgary. She refused and claimed it was store policy. Alright whatever! At this point I wanted to just finish the transaction and leave.
Four months later, the dress finally arrived! It was early too! Ok maybe things are looking up. I went in to pick it up. My mom came along as she wanted to see the dress on me. The lady at the front was reluctant to let me use a change room to try the dress on. She sighed, then said «Ok I guess you can use this room. But we need it in 10 minutes for an appointment» I agreed and rushed back, only to see several open change rooms. Don’t see what she was so worried about. It honestly felt like she was trying to give me the dress and shove me out the door. So I try the dress on and sure enough, the size 6 is too big. Needless to say I’m pretty pissed off because the girl was adamant that the size 6 would fit perfectly and now I’m stuck having to get it altered. I already paid $ 160 for this dress and now have to spend more just so it isn’t falling off me at the wedding. Not cool, David’s Bridal.
Honestly, if you want a dress for a bargain, go to David’s. But don’t expect a grand experience. It is clear to me that their staff are not properly trained and are overworked (hence the grumpy attitudes). Dealing with David’s Bridal just seems to cause more headaches alongside the other stresses of wedding planning.

I purchased my bridesmaid dress at David’s Bridal because the bride bought her dress there and I am remote (I’m in Calgary and the bride and other wedding party live in Ontario).
The shopping experience was just OK. What I’m most angered by is the fact that my consultant would NOT let me get the size I wanted. She insisted that I get a size larger. There wasn’t any budging, apparently. Low and behold, my dress comes in too big.
I took it this morning to an alteration place just down the street from my work (because I now hate David’s Bridal) to a woman who is known for her good work. She quoted me at $ 75. So even though the dress was modestly priced (~$ 160 mark), add another $ 75 onto that.
The store itself was disheveled and felt gross. Quality of dresses seemed poor. The staff were just ok. I definitely won’t be getting anything else there until I absolutely have to.

I have been very patient with David’s Bridal and knew going in that if I found my dress there, I should expect a sub-​par experience. And low and behold, they met my lowered expectations. Some things to consider before using David’s Bridal:
1) Service is slow. The store is always busy and they will not assist you unless you have an appointment. When you have an appointment, they will be running late and they will rush you through your appointment.
2) Don’t expect that bride «aha» moment. The lighting sucks, the store is ugly and there are so many people around you, you just want to get the hell out!
3) Consultants are busy, overworked and for the most part, not very knowledgeable. They get you in, make a sale, get you out, and move on to the next one.
4) They will not go over and above to make your experience special.
5) Most importantly, the staff are rude, indifferent and not very helpful.
I was lucky. I knew exactly what I wanted and am not one of those bride’s that required that extra service most other places provide. I found my dress at David’s and did purchase it there. I will be married in just over a week and I am content with my dress. Looking back, I think I just wanted the decision to be made and over with. If I could go back and re-​do the purchase, I would not give this store my business. My bridesmaids all had similar experiences when they picked up their dresses as well. I wouldn’t recommend David’s unless you are willing to deal with what I now consider to be the «McDonalds» of bridal stores.

My about to be sister in law who recently moved to Calgary from Brazil and has English as a second language walked into Davids to find a wedding dress. She was rudely told she wouldn’t be helped without an appointment (think pretty woman movie). It’s the rude part that bothers me. Fortunately she went to Ethos on 17^th where she received lots of help in purchasing a beautiful dress.

Recently bought a mother of the bride dress from David’s Bridal. I called for a quote on getting it taken up by 1 inch and was quoted well over $ 100. I explained the dress and they knew exactly what dress it was. You would think after the bride bought her dress and accessories and the wedding party doing the same, there would be a better service for alterations.

As soon as I walked in the door, I found the lady standing at the podium very rude and unfriendly. Unless you are there for an appointment, the ladies have no interest in answering any questions.

I am sad to have to say this, since my initial experience was very enjoyable.
I came back to look for reception dresses and also purchase some of their lingerie Made an appointment. Arrived on time and was seated for at least 15 minutes after checking in before my consultant came out. This was Easter Monday, store was not very busy, my girl was only dealing with us and one other group.
She was disinterested, wandering away for long periods of time. Didn’t offer clips or to help zip up the back of the dresses I tried. Just gave me 4 dresses and walked away.
The dresses I tried on were torn and some had stains. Considering when I bought my wedding dress here, I was given the one off the rack that I had tried on, I feared one of the reception gowns I tried would actually fit and they would force me to purchase that damaged item.
So the dresses themselves were a no go, no biggie, They are so well priced though!
I asked for the specific corset I had in mind, didn’t have my size, and when I deiced I needed to order a larger one, my consultant was up at the till doing god knows what.
I wandered around the store with my sister for a bit after changing back into street clothes, since I had said my sister would also be looking for dresses during this appointment. No luck, no feigning attempt of assistance from our consultant.
So I went up to order the corset in the size I needed and then inquire about booking alterations for the dress I bought a year ago from them and have at home.
Let me state. David’s Bridal only alters David Bridal product. I was told there was no way they could fit me in for an appointment even though I don’t need my dress till Aug 14. I was added to the cancellations list and then told to find another seamstress as piece of mind.
You can count on me doing that DB.

We made an appointment to find a wedding dress on a busy Saturday. The sales person gave us a very helpful walk through of the store before we went to the room to try on dresses, as there are several departments in the store. We told the sales person what style we were looking for and she proceeded to bring us three dresses that did not quite match the description we were looking for. She then started helping the girl next to us for about 30 minutes and did not bring us any new dresses. Because we had nothing better to do and no new wedding dress to try on, my bridesmaids started grabbing bridesmaid dresses. When the sales person returned, she told us that we weren’t to be trying on bridesmaid dresses and that we would have to make a new appointment. When I mentioned that we had no dresses to try on and that we were just waiting for her to come back, she said that we could have been walking around the store and grabbing our own wedding dresses to try on. This would have been nice to know previously as it is very uncommon for stores to allow their customers to do this and I’m still not entirely sure that the sales person wasn’t telling us false information. Also, when I mentioned to the sales person that I couldn’t find the style I was looking for, she told us that they only had one dress in that style, and that it wasn’t white. I decided to buy a wedding dress that I had tried on at a different store the previous day.
Upon leaving the store, I made another appointment with David’s bridal for the bridesmaid dresses. When I returned to the store two weeks later for the next appointment, we again received less than ideal service. It was almost as though the sales person was trying to get us in and out as quickly as possible and she did not seem to care if we found what we were looking for. We haven’t decided yet, but we will likely buy the bridesmaid dresses from David’s Bridal, as they are so reasonably priced and we found a dress that looked good on everyone.
In summary, my overall impression of this location was that the store is very nice, however extremely busy and there isn’t enough staff for all of the customers they have appointments booked for. The bridesmaid dress selection is wonderful, the wedding dress selection is lacking unless you like trumpet style dresses (as there were SEVERAL of those) and the service is terrible. Even though this store has several sections that you would supposedly be able to shop through (jewellery, shoes, bridal party accessories, veils, bridesmaid dresses, mother of the bride outfits, ring bearer pillows, etc.), you should not go to this store without an appointment because if you do, instead of just receiving crappy service, you will be made to feel unwelcome and will be followed around by a sales person who basically wants you to hurry up and leave.

David’s is like the Walmart of the bridal scene.
There is some pretty decent stuff at fairly reasonable prices. Samples come in a wide size range which allows all body types to try stuff on. There is a LOT of stock to pick from as well which is always nice. The pricing here is probably some of the best I found because they are such a large company (1 in 4 US brides are dressed by David allegedly). They can order things quicker which is also a huge bonus if you’re short on time and since they have so many sizes you’re also more likely to find something off the rack.
The experience isn’t quite the same as other places though. Think of a fitting at Vic Secret vs trying shoes on at the shoe wearhouse. They help you, they try but the atmosphere and the level of staff to client is just not the same. You kind of need to know what you want because they are generally reacting to what you ask for verse what you might want but don’t know. Even then, I knew what I want and they had me walk around and try to find it. I picked out what I didn’t want because I can’t tell one white dress from another on a hanger (dispite telling them what i wanted to see) and they left me to stew in my uninformed picks of styles for some time before the manager happened over and started bringing some better fits in what I wanted. The excitement to see an OK over a No dress seemed to give them too much confidence to hang out in the OK range and I never got close enough to something I wanted to wear.
In the end I was put into something I liked but didn’t love. The most redeeming quality was the price. I wonder if a better dress was there but I didn’t know how to work to get it on me if you know what i’m saying. The advice from the alterations lady about how to make things work almost had me butching it up in a tux I was so disheartened and I later had that straightened out by another seamstress. That being said, you can probably find something here with a good price point and be happy.
A good store model focuses on being the best in 2 of 3 of areas: price, quality and service. David’s is going for price and quality in that order. If that works for you then great.

Make sure to make an appointment! The place is great but not for walk-​ins. Tons of affordable gowns in all styles. I was able to find my beautiful champagne wedding ball gown on sale for 350 $ and I’m going back there to find the perfect bridesmaids dresses that will accommodate there various sizes.

I had planned a weekend trip to Calgary to shop for my wedding dress and was able to make a dress fitting appt last minute on a friday afternoon. We were greeted by a friendly associate and welcomed to browse the dresses while the girl assigned to help me was able to meet. They also had an ipad with all the dresses that was very helpful to get an idea of the selection without going through them all on the racks. I just wrote down the dress number and easy peasy!
Shayla was my associate and she was awesome! Super friendly and helpful. She assisted me with every dress, zipping me up, and offering tips and info as needed. I found an amazing dress but since this was one of the first stores i had been to i wanted a day or so to keep looking and think on it but i knew i’d be flying home in two days so i made another appt with someone working there, letting them know that i’d like to come back on sunday and give it some thought– no problem.
I show up for my appt on sunday knowing that i definetly wanted to buy that dress and i had a bit of extra time so i went 2 hours early and asked if it was possible to have my appt now rather than in a couple hours, they said that was okay and assigned me to Jessica. Right away i told Jessica that i loved the dress, wanna buy it but just get boob cups sewn in it. She was such a cow giving me attitude right from the start. She says well you need an alteration appt not a fitting appt and i said «and how am i supposed to know there is such a thing?” — an appt is an appt! Then she continues to tell me that since my wedding is in 4 months theres no way that it will be done in time. Really– sewing in two bra cups takes 4 months??? Super rude. Let me add that she was talking down to me in front of a group of girls that were trying on dresses. Brutal customer service. I asked her if i can speak with Shayla since i saw her when i arrived and she was so helpful on friday. I explain to Shayla and immediately she says i understand, let me talk to my manager and see if we can get you in alterations. Awesome! The manager Nicole comes by and says no problem. Jessica grabs my dress and says i’ll bring it over to that dept so we follow her there and she leaves the dress by the till and takes off, not even a word and NOT at the alterations area so we stand there for at least 20 minutes wondering what the hell to do. Finally Nicole notices and finds the dress and brings us into the fitting and i’m good to go within 10 minutes. The only reason i’m giving this 3 stars is cause Jessica and if i had her on friday helping me there’s NO WAY in hell i would of purchased the dress. She really needs some customer service skills– just BRUTAL… I however love my dress and am super thankful for Shayla and Nicoles assistance and i got a great deal :)

If you want a cheap dress and can find what you want on your own, then David’s Bridal is for you. I guess it doesn’t have to be a cheap dress, they do carry lots of designers and I am sure you can spend a fortune. What the underlying comment is, prepare to have to direct your appointment yourself. I arrived promptly at 10 am for my appointment, the first one of the day. I had to fill out a form and then sit down until someone was ready (apparently they aren’t ready for people to be on time), then I was toured around the store just incase I needed to buy the other things they offer and finally we got to talking about what I wanted in a dress. Now we are a good 15 – 20 minutes into my appointment. By the time I was in a dress I liked, my consultant had already started her next appointment. I found their staff inattentive and just interested in the sale. Their sample dresses were all quite small too, so if you are more than a size 8, prepare to be disappointed.
I didn’t buy my dress here, and I won’t recommend it.

Amazing customer service, went there with no appointment and they fit myself and 4 of my bridesmaids in to shop for bridesmaids dresses. We had one designer and style in mind that we were hoping for, but unfortunately David’s Bridal only carries «David’s Bridal» brand gowns/​dresses. Beautiful, but slightly disappointing.
The bridesmaids dresses and special occasion dresses are all grouped together, so tread lightly before getting attached — as the special occasion frocks are only available as they would be in a retail store, whatever sizes and colours they have, is all they have.
Besides those two slight flaws, I would recommend to friends based on the wonderful customer service the ladies working there provided.